Starling
Page 27
Mason put a hand on the hilt of the sword at her side.
The figure reached up and pushed back the deep cowl of the cloak. A spill of midnight hair framed a face, corpse pale and lovely. Dark blue eyes gazed at Mason, and a shadow of a smile curved the bloodless lips of the woman’s face as she took a step forward and said in a voice like a bell tolling:
“Hello, Mason. Welcome to Hel.”
She held out her arms.
“I’m your mother and I’ve been waiting for you....”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book marks the beginning of a brand-new adventure, a new journey. Some of the people who’ve stepped onto this road with me are familiar traveling companions; some are new. I would fold you all into the biggest group hug ever if I could get you into the same room at the same time. Insofar as that’s looking unlikely, I’ll just thank you all here.
First, as always, my profound gratitude goes to Jessica Regel, my agent. I continue to not be able to say enough about the depths of my appreciation—just please continue to rock on. Next up is Karen Chaplin, my wise, patient, much-smarter-than-me editor—thank you for taking such good care of me and of this series; you’re a delight to work with. And a third thanks goes to Laura Arnold, who is also delightful and who acquired this series in the first place.
Thank you again to Jean Naggar and the staff of JVNLA for continuing to be outstanding. TimBits for you all again next time I’m in the office.
Thank you to the industrious, creative crew at HarperCollins: my editorial director, Barbara Lalicki; Maggie Herold, my production editor; and Cara Petrus, my designer. You’ve all made me, and this book—and Mason Starling—look so ferociously good! Thank you also to everyone at HarperCollins Canada for continuing to make me feel like one of the cool kids—especially my Canadian editor, Hadley Dyer, who indulges me in ebullient, mythology-laden, shop-talk lunches.
Now, as ever, I send massive love and gratitude out to my mom and my wonderful family. And to my friends. Because you all put up with me when I’m on deadline, and this just wouldn’t be any fun if you guys didn’t think it was kind of cool.
Of course, my most important acknowledgment/respect/declaration of undying love/debt of gratitude and/or frosty beverages goes, unsurprisingly, to John. Again. None of this happens without you. None of it. You are the Gene Hackman Character to my Panicky Idiot Number One in The Poseidon Adventure.
Finally, thank you to my readers. To those who’ve followed me here, and those who’ve just joined me on the road. I hope you enjoy the Ride—watch out for stray Valkyries!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LESLEY LIVINGSTON is a writer and actress living in Toronto. She has a master’s degree in English from the University of Toronto, where she specialized in Arthurian literature and Shakespeare. She is the author of WONDROUS STRANGE, which won the Canadian Librarian Association Young Adult Book Award in addition to being a White Pine Honor Book, as well as DARKLIGHT and TEMPESTUOUS. You can visit her online at www.lesleylivingston.com.
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OTHER WORKS
Also by
LESLEY LIVINGSTON
Darklight
Tempestuous
Wondrous Strange
CREDITS
Cover design by Cara E. Petrus
Cover photograph © 2012 by Michael Frost
Cover photograph of city skyline © 2012 by Getty Images
COPYRIGHT
HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Starling
Copyright © 2012 by Lesley Livingston
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.epicreads.com
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN 978-0-06-206307-6
EPub Edition © JUNE 2012 ISBN 9780062063090
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12 13 14 15 16 LP/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First Edition
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